On Friday, January 8, after a very rocky night, Larry went
out to see Iceberg Alley at 5:00 AM. He found the sun high in the sky and these beauties. They are mammoths, but not large enough to be named. Scientist will only give names to icebergs that are ten miles long.
At
9:00AM we took the small nine man boat to the mainland of Esperanza Station
where the Argentina Government had set up a military base/exploration center in
1951.
It was a cool minus 2 when we left, but the sun was shining brightly and we were unbelievably warm with three/four layers, blue explorer's coats and the muck boots....just like toast. We also had a good layer of suntan lotion to block to intense rays. The exploration guides wore the white zinc lotion on their faces because they would be out in the sunshine most of the day.
Our tender boat driver
The sunshine made for a good crossing to the mainland.
This base was established before the IAATO and Antarctica Treaty was written declaring Antarctica belonging to no specific country and to be used for scientific inhabitants only.
The welcome committee, Adelie Penguin
Our small group of 30 was lucky to have the commander of the base to give us a tour of their museum, school, casino (community center), and chapel. He spoke Spanish and our exploration leader translated.
Esperanza Station, Antarctica
It was a cool minus 2 when we left, but the sun was shining brightly and we were unbelievably warm with three/four layers, blue explorer's coats and the muck boots....just like toast. We also had a good layer of suntan lotion to block to intense rays. The exploration guides wore the white zinc lotion on their faces because they would be out in the sunshine most of the day.
Our small group of 30 was lucky to have the commander of the base to give us a tour of their museum, school, casino (community center), and chapel. He spoke Spanish and our exploration leader translated.
Esperanza commander and our guide/translator
Esperanza Museum
Display of the stages of a penguin
Two groups...one waiting for their tour and the other waiting for their ride back to the ship
Visiting this base is an extremely rare occasion; only two or three ships come into this small port each year. The locals
treated us royally with hot drinks and cookies. Penguins were in all directions and we were
thoroughly entertained just watching them.
Gentoo Penguins (white by the eye is the clue)
Only 54 people live on this remote base for a year. 14 of that number are students, half elementary and half high school.
With their houses and roofs tied down to the ground securely with thick cables, no one leaves their home when the high winds get to blowing. Antarctica is the windiest place on earth with record winds registering at 327 km h in July of 1972. Wow...I bet everything better be buttoned down with that kind of wind. No kidding....school is canceled due to high winds here.
Every grownup (wife and husband) living here has a job....safety, communications, mechanic, etc. Can you imagine making your grocery list for a year? There is person who does that, ordering the necessary supplies for a whole year. Living here makes East Timor look like a piece of cake.
Lots of rocks and lots of penguins
Only 54 people live on this remote base for a year. 14 of that number are students, half elementary and half high school.
Esperanza School
The head master/high school teacher spoke while our guide translated during the school tour
With their houses and roofs tied down to the ground securely with thick cables, no one leaves their home when the high winds get to blowing. Antarctica is the windiest place on earth with record winds registering at 327 km h in July of 1972. Wow...I bet everything better be buttoned down with that kind of wind. No kidding....school is canceled due to high winds here.
Esperanza Chapel
Inside the casino....community room
Every grownup (wife and husband) living here has a job....safety, communications, mechanic, etc. Can you imagine making your grocery list for a year? There is person who does that, ordering the necessary supplies for a whole year. Living here makes East Timor look like a piece of cake.
This area known as Hope Bay was named in honor of three men
from the Swedish South Polar Expedition of 1901-03.They built a rock house and
survived in the area for a year. I am sure they were sitting around and doing a lot of hoping that they were going to be able to get back to civilization. It had to be an amazing feat for them to live off of
penguin and seal meat for a year and use their blubber as insulated underwear. What a story they have to tell!
Rock House
Currently it is summer in January, the daylight is
nonstop, but during the winter it is totally dark for 24 hours for many weeks. The penguins migrate to Antarctica every December to lay their eggs and hatch little penguins. They all leave by March to toastier temps.
It was amazing how smoothly getting two hundred people
dressed in life jackets and all their other warm gear, shuttled to and from the
island in groups of eight….the ninth passenger was the driver… The Fram Staff really knew how to keep things
moving with very little wait time.
After returning to the boat, we got out of all that cold weather clothing and had lunch. We had a short amount of free time and then we put on our three/four layers of clothing, blue exploration coats, and muck boots to get on another tender boat at 4:30 PM for a new outing to Kinnes Cove. Taking the little boat to shore, we disembarked into the water to come ashore.
Those muck boots really work....I had the driest and warmest feet on every excursion.
We climbed to the top of this huge mountain of snow and ice…slipping and sliding all along the way...it was a bit dodgy getting through some of the icy areas, but we made it.
Penguin colonies were everywhere…swimming, hopping, waddling, and sliding. They were adorable and so much fun to watch. We actually sat right down in the snow and were thoroughly entertained watching their comical moves.
After making it to the top, we were able to see the incredible view of the cove with the ship sitting below and icebergs floating all about. The sunshiny day made for the best weather that we have had during the whole trip so far.
Yes, that is our ship, the Fram...isn't it tiny looking? The vastness of the area makes our ship look so very small.
We climbed to the top of this huge mountain of snow and ice…slipping and sliding all along the way...it was a bit dodgy getting through some of the icy areas, but we made it.
What a gorgeous day! See the penguins greeting us as you get off the tender boat.
These little critters will walk right up to you if you sit down for a while.
So cool!!!!!!
Penguin colonies were everywhere…swimming, hopping, waddling, and sliding. They were adorable and so much fun to watch. We actually sat right down in the snow and were thoroughly entertained watching their comical moves.
Walking up hill warms you up real fast...hence no hat or gloves.
Sweet....we spotted these two little ones under their mama!
After making it to the top, we were able to see the incredible view of the cove with the ship sitting below and icebergs floating all about. The sunshiny day made for the best weather that we have had during the whole trip so far.
During the evening we enjoyed cruising amongst the icebergs...WHAT A SHOW!
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